Traveling the world, one bite at a time

Review: Ardiana.

It’s only fitting that once La Nebbia closed that another pizza spot would take its place.

Located in quaint Noe Valley, Ardiana is the newest addition to Sharon Adriana’s other two restaurants in San Francisco, Gialina and Ragazza. The pizza place is definitely a neighborhood joint with a no frills casual vibe.

I’m all about any type of bread with yummy dipping sauces. On the menu there were about six choices that all sounded enticing and delicious but for only two people, ordering all of them would be overkill. The pita bread itself was warm and fluffy and sprinkled with a touch of spice. The roasted winter squash with creamy cashew quince “butter” was the perfect combination of fall/winter ingredients. The smashed avocado was seasoned with Meyer lemon, fruity olive oil, and aleppo pepper that added a nice kick. Lastly, the muhammara was probably my favorite with a rich roasted pepper flavor with walnut and a dollop of tangy Greek yogurt on top with tart pomegranate.

I really enjoyed this pizza with the sweet tomato sauce, brininess from the capers and black olives, and that saltiness from the anchovies. Of course anchovies aren’t for everyone as they do have a pungent intense flavor. The dough was crispy yet pillowy which is my favorite type of pizza.

While I liked this pizza, I wanted the caramelized onions to be more intensely flavored. I loved the small “bacon bits” throughout the pizza but I felt overall the toppings weighed down the pizza which made it difficult to eat.

Tiramisu (7/10).

A tasty tiramisu but not the best I’ve ever had. It did satisfy my sweet tooth though.

If I lived around Noe Valley, Ardiana could easily be my neighborhood pizza place. Would I go out of my way to dine there again? That’s hard to say since there are so many pizza restaurants in the city. Therefore my rating is a 7.5-8/10.

Meet Vanessa

Ciao tutti! I'm a California girl that packed up my bags in 2011 and moved half way across the world to Florence, Italy where I lived for 4 years. My passion is food and to learn everything there is about the gastronomic world!